


Are you there God? It's me, Tim Drake

by shiv_roy



Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural (TV) Fusion, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, BATCEST SHIPPERS DNI I MEAN IT THIS FIC IS PURE AS FUKC I DO NOT WANT YALL HERE, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, DISCLAIMER: this is not a b@tcest work. if you ship that bullshit kindly dni, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:41:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26598508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiv_roy/pseuds/shiv_roy
Summary: Tim Drake has graduated college, moved into his own place, is going to get his dream job, and it's been years since he saw his family. In short, everything is going perfectly... all until his estranged brother shows up and he once again gets caught in his family's lies.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Comments: 19
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this quite a while ago, because I'm a sucker for a certain supernatural creature trope that I won't say because spoilers. 
> 
> This isn't your average fluff needs fic. Relationships are fucked up a little (not in a canon divergent way though,) and will be treated and explored as such. 
> 
> I have a solid outline and am planning around 10-12 chapters of similar length. Updates will be slow, but I can guarantee I will finish this because the trope is so dear to me. 
> 
> I've edited to the best of my capacity, but feel free to point out typos and the like.
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy!

Tim placed the last book from the box to the shelf and smiled to himself. Things were going good for him; he'd left his home four years ago and moved to California to go to Stanford, he had a job interview just before the weekend that he was fairly certain he'd get, he wasn't in life-ruining student debt because of the trust fund his dead parents had left him, and he'd just moved to a place that he didn't share with three other people... all in all, life was great. Until, as if some mysterious power of fate knew things were going too well for him, misfortune came knocking on his door. 

By misfortune, he meant Jason Todd and by knocking on his door, he meant breaking into his apartment at twelve in the night. Tim had been swigging the last of his beer and watching something on Netflix when he heard it. No matter the amount of time passed, his training refused to let up. He grabbed a spare curtain rod lying on the floor- it was much lighter than his staff, but it'd do- and crept down the hallway to the living room/kitchen area. As he wandered further, his muscles coiled and tightened, and he sensed Jason behind him almost immediately. Tim, of course, went to town on him, kicking his stomach and hitting him multiple times with the staff (Jason still dodged a lot of those), before Jason spoke.

"Slow down, Timbers, jeez, it's me!"

Tim dropped his arms in surprise, squinting through the dark to see that it was in fact Jason. He was wearing his ratty old red hoodie like always and a denim jacket over it. Not much of an improvement, fashion wise. Tim scowled and went to turn on the light. Jason blinked a few times before looking around in appreciation.

"Nice place you got, Timmy," he said. Tim only deepened his scowl.

"Why are you here," he asked flatly.

"You meet your brother after three years and this is how you treat him?" Jason had that sweet sarcastic tone to his voice which it seemed was all he used while talking to anyone in the family. Tim dropped the staff and went to get some water.

"Not your brother, and you broke into my new place. At midnight."

"Aww," Jason grinned. "Did I scare you Timmy?"

"What the fuck do you want, Jason?" Tim asked again, a bit more tired. Jason dropped the faux friendly demeanor.

"I need help on a case," he said, suddenly all business. "Couple of deaths in LA, it's definitely up our alley, but I can't figure out what it is."

Tim's eyes narrowed. It was somewhat hard to believe that Jason couldn't figure out a case- especially one in the west coast. Cases here were usually amateurs who were recently turned. They left their evidence all over the cases- usually. Then some hunter, usually someone from Queen's bunch, would take care of it and pay off the authorities to shut up about it. Basically, Oliver Queen and his family were all over the west coast hunting scene, which made this request odd.

Tim still didn't question it. If someone from his extremely egotistical family was actually asking for help, there had to be an ulterior motive. Dick once spent a whole month with a running fever before anyone noticed. It was Alfred, of course. He'd spent two weeks in bed after that. Tim suspected it had been the flu, but they hadn't talked. No one in the goddamn family talked.

"And why would I help you?" Tim asked cautiously, leaning against the kitchen counter and crossing his arms.

"Roy is out of the country on a case with his dad, and I promised Dinah I'd solve this one for her."

The clever sort of non answer. Tim decided to ignore it. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be back home shooting Crime Alley Djinns?"

"Just- just help me Tim. You'll owe me one. You know it'll come in useful."

"You know I left the life behind, so that favour means nothing to me. And since when do you not call me Replacement?"

"You can ask for any sort of favor. Anytime. And... it's been a while now. Since I've thought about it that way."

"Beg. Say please." Tim decided to ignore the last part. The last thing he needed was a heart to heart with Jason in the middle of the night. He didn't want to make life worse than it currently was. Anyhow, he was pleased to see a contemplative frown on Jason's face and an annoyed movement in his jaw. He was only playing... he had four days before the job interview and nothing to do anyways. Yes he'd left the life behind, but like he'd thought before, this was probably an easy case, and the faster Jason got out of is hair, the better.

"Please," Jason said, finally. "Please help me on this case, Tim."

Tim gave him an impressed look. "Wow, I didn't think you'd do it.

"Anyways, moving past: we solve the case in four days, before my interview, and then you skedaddle and never see my face again."

Jason looked different. Like he was thinking about the things he said differently, not letting his famous temper decide the course of the conversation.

"Alright," he said slowly. There was an awkward pause. "So we have a deal."

Tim almost couldn't help but smile at the ridiculousness of the situation. He rolled his eyes instead. "Sure, we have a deal."

"Great! Lets leave then!" That was the old Jason. The one that liked to rush in, start working as soon as possible and as fast as possible. Tim gave a tired sigh.

"I just moved today. I need seven hours at least," he said, yawning to punctuate the statement.

"Alright, yeah, well... you got a couch?" Once again, Jason agreeing with him was a sort of strange thing, so Tim was once again taken back. He didn't have a couch yet, but he did have an extra mattress. So that was settled.

That night, after almost two years, Tim got that specific brand of nightmares he'd only got when he was with the family. In the dream, he was surrounded by monsters. All sorts of them, all he'd fought and more. Vampires and werewolves and ghosts. he tried to fight, but he moved too slowly. He could feel them tearing at his flesh, but he couldn't do anything more than try to crawl. He hated being slow. He heard Bruce's voice criticizing his technique, calling him too slow. And then, he was in front of Tim, watching with a stern expression, his hands behind his back, eyes as cold as they'd been the day Tim left home and suddenly, a vampire appeared behind his stiff form and tore his neck out.

Tim woke up in a cold sweat, shirt damp and shivering and mouth gasping. The air conditioning was making it worse. For a few moments, he couldn't move, just gaping at his wall, the image of Bruce and his torn out throat still fresh in his eyes. By the time he came to, there was goose flesh all over his arms and shoulders. He pulled his comforter over with a groan. The sleep was still there behind his eyes, but he didn't want to close them and dream of something even more horrible. It'd happened before.

He naturally checked his phone, and it was only a little past five. So he hadn't even had five hours. He sat up, running his hands through his hair. He'd improved his sleeping cycle a lot after he gave up hunting and moved out. College meant that it wasn't too much of improvement, but he had made conscious efforts. He didn't want to think about the meaning of all of that disrupting when Jason turned up to ask him to work a case.

Finally, tired of the direction his thoughts were taking, Tim decided to go on a jog, because there wasn't much else to do. Nothing like exercise followed by coffee to wake you up. 

When he got back from the jog, Jason was awake and drinking coffee, reading what looked like a news report on his phone. Tim didn't doubt it was related to the case. When Tim got his own cup and had a couple sips, he pushed the phone towards him.

"New vic. Matches the MO. Let's go check it out," he said. Then after a short pause, "Like, right now."

Tim gulped down the rest of the sludge Jason thought was coffee. 

"Alright," he said. Now was as good a time as any. He needed distracting from the nightmare anyways. Plus, he knew it always got like this on cases. "What are we going as? Local PD? FBI?"

"FBI." Jason downed his coffee too. "Hope you got a suit."

The ride to the crime scene was uneventful. The back of the alley was roped off with police tape, and Jason and Tim actually got there before the local authorities. Tim was immediately going to put it down as a vampire: The body looked the level of pale that was usually only associated with a vampire draining it, and sure enough there bite marks all over the wrists and neck. Well, from what he could see from the back. Jason beckoned him over to the other side. Tim had to force himself not to gag. It'd been years since he'd seen a dead body. Especially one with its neck and wrists torn open.

"So..." Jason said, kneeling and using his pen to tilt the victim's neck so the bite marks were more visible. Tim moved forward, forcing his hands into his pockets. "What do you think?"

Tim looked around to see if the local authorities were near, and leaned in toward Jason further. "Looks like it might be a vamp." That was clear. That was abundantly clear. And Jason had more experience in the field. This should've been an easy conclusion to come to. Jason only nodded, looking at Tim calculatingly, seriously. 

"We got three more bodies like this," he said, standing up and brushing his pants.

"You got any suspects?" Tim asked. He should. Jason really should. And there was nothing wrong with him, from what Tim could see... so why was he asking Tim for help on this? His thoughts got interrupted by Jason.

"Nope, all the other vics didn't go anywhere they weren't supposed to, and I talked to the families but nothing came up," Jason said. When Tim looked at him, it felt like Jason was observing him like an experiment. Again.

"Let's go talk to the family then, see if there's anything here," Tim said, getting up and starting back out. Jason followed him back and Tim could just feel him giving him the weird stare. 

"Stop staring at me," he snapped without looking back, stomping back to the car. He felt weird about this whole case, and Jason approaching him about it. Not a good weird. Tim glared out of the window the whole time- Jason seemed to know where the victim's house was already, which meant he'd done research on this, and that was once again weird, and between these simple conclusions to come to and this, it felt like Jason was testing him in some way. 

Tim felt a wave of defensiveness come over his thoughts- he had given up the hunting life. They really shouldn't expect him to be all up to date. And even then, he could tell a simple fucking vampire killing- there was no need to "test" him. And then again... why Tim? He and Jason hadn't been on the best of terms. None of them had been, for a long time. Him, Jason, Steph, Dick, Babs, Damian. Cass... well she hadn't left on bad terms but they'd had their fair share of arguments. And then there was the new kid he'd met briefly last year- Duke. Tim honestly felt bad for him, coming into this garbage fire mess of a family. He'd given him a few contact details and said to call anytime he needed assist. 

"Earth to Timbo." Jason was waving a hand in front of his face, looking concerned. Tim hadn't realized they'd got to the place. "You okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, just- got lost in thought."

"Tim," Jason said seriously. "If you don't wanna deal with the victim's family right now that's okay. I know you had your reasons for walking away. This is an imposition in itself. If your head isn't in the game- and that's okay-, it's dangerous for you to be in the field for a possible vampire job."

Tim stared at him, trying to say something, anything- but words failed him. He was feeling angry, so angry at all the implications Jason was making, and after _he_ asked for help. Tim opened and closed his mouth a few times before unbuckling his seat belt and getting out, slamming the doors so hard they nearly came off their hinges.

"Hey, not the car!" He heard Jason yell, and then scuffle to get out.

"What the fuck, man?" Jason asked, glaring right back at Tim's own angry glare.

"Oh, there he is," Tim said. "There's the Jason I know. You vengeful little bitch, you think you can play some sort of fucked up mind game with me, huh? Pretending to be all nice and asking help for what is obviously a stupid vampire case. Trying to 'test' me or whatever the fuck kind of toxic shit Bruce used to pull on us? I walked away, Jason! Why can't you respect that?! And to cut your lovely, _lovely_ trip short: no, I haven't forgotten the years of hunting training Bruce drilled in us throughout our childhoods. I'm still 'sharp', so you can leave now."

When he paused, both for breath and to gauge whether he will have to physically fight Jason, Jason looked resigned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He leaned into the car through a window and pulled out a water bottle and tossed it at Tim, who only catched in reflex. "Drink. You're dehydrated."

Tim stared at his brother disbelievingly. "Son of a bitch. Stop reading my body language." But Jason was right and Tim hadn't had water since... around yesterday evening, unless you count the little cup of coffee. Which Jason obviously didn't.

Jason shrugged, his expression calm again. "Sorry, habit." Then he waited sort of expectantly, and Tim took his time to drown the bottle. When he was done, Jason sighed and started speaking.

"I didn't... I didn't mean it sarcastically. What I said in the car. I should've known how much I'd fucked up my relationship with you and used better words. I'm sorry. I didn't want to imply you were a liability. And I wasn't testing you, or whatever. I just wanted to spend time with you, is all. I haven't seen anyone in the family for years."

Tim raised an eyebrow, mentally prepared to deal a verbal lashing, but paused when his brain processed what Jason was saying. This was... the first genuine apology he'd ever seen come from Jason Todd's mouth. 

"I-," Tim scrunched his face. "Did you apologize to me?" Jason gave him a weary smile.

"I learned a lot of things at- away from Gotham."

Tim tossed the empty bottle back to Jason, watching him. "Well... you're telling me you just wanted to spend time with me? There's nothing else?" Jason sighed again.

"We'll talk after the case."

"So there _is_ something else!"

"Not really..."

"No, now you can't take that back!" Tim exclaimed and Jason chuckled a little, and there was that remnant of the little good time they did have back home. Jason tossed the bottle in the car abruptly.

"Ready to check out the vic's family?" he asked. 

"Yeah. But we _are_ gonna talk about this after the case is done," Tim replied. Jason held up his hands in surrender and they made their way up to the victim's house together, pushing each other lightly like kids. As Jason knocked on the door, Tim couldn't help but wonder, sadly enough, when the other shoe would drop and this light truce would end.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim and Jason go for the hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've kind of integrated how Bruce/superheroes in general work in comics, etc. with how hunting works in Supernatural (yes, the CW show). It's been fun to imagine all the possibilities that come with Bruce's resources/general disposition. So this is basically like how things would be, in-universe if you replaced crime in Gotham by supernatural in Gotham and replaced his parents' mugging by his parents dying because of the supernatural. 
> 
> I hope you don't mind me taking a few liberties with that. Let me know if there's typos/anything's incomprehensible.
> 
> Enjoy!

The case went like Tim expected: they found one lead, then two, then they they followed up and got suspects, narrowed it down to what could only be the killer, all in three days. The entire while, Jason let Tim take lead and do the research and make the connections, keeping silent even when Tim got a little slow. And Tim- well Tim loved it. He remembered what he felt like, he was thriving doing all the research, selecting the right weapons (stakes, crossbows and machetes), stocking up on Dead Man's Blood... this was what he did best, back when he still hunted. Not that he was bad at combat, he just liked research and prep. He loved the lore.

And tonight... just the thought of tonight sent an almost childish wave of excitement through him: they were going to ambush the vamp and kill him. He was so excited, it completely overshadowed the anticipation he'd been feeling for the interview tomorrow. Strangely, the thing he was so sure was going to make him happy was a footnote now. But he decided not to dwell on that. It was another unhealthy thing he'd unlearned after leaving home, the overthinking.

A few hours before the hunt, Tim was exercising in his new apartment's basement gym, just to warm up for the night. He did a full routine: running, stretching, practicing with the punching bag, even some stake practice with a club. Jason on the other hand, was chilling and eating a sandwich while mooching off Tim's Netflix. He'd said he usually relaxed before hunting, and Tim took his word for it.

Tim went up just as the sun set, pleased to see he'd worked off all the nervous energy he'd gotten. Jason was still sprawled on the couch and staring intently at Tim's laptop.

"Hey," Tim said. No response. This time flicking Jason's head again, Tim called, "Hey!"

"What?" Jason groaned.

"We should get going, it's getting dark."

"Wasn't it _your_ intel that said he usually exited his usual cafe at eight? It's only six right now," Jason protested. "Please, I have to finish this season before I leave."

"I'm starting to think the case is a front for wanting to use my Netflix," Tim said, amused. "Come on, you can stay an extra day tomorrow and complete whatever before you go. I'll leave for my interview in the morning anyways." Tim was planning on pulling an all nighter, because with a proper hunt after such a huge break, there was no way he'd wake up if he slept. Besides, he'd done this before. Sure, all nighters before exams were different from hunting all nighters before important job interviews, but Tim had studied up so much, he was bored with it. And confident that he would ace it.

Jason looked like he was considering it and then leveled a look at Tim. "And you wouldn't mind?"

Tim rolled his eyes. "No. What do you want, a pinky promise?"

"Aww," Jason said, his shit eating grin back. "That's cute." Tim grumbled away, muttering an offhanded fuck off. Then he went to his heaviest bag and started unpacking for his old hunting gear. The few protective layers for sharp things and bullets were never to be released WayneTech. The top fit snugly around Tim's torso and he found out he'd missed the feeling it brought: alert but safe at the same time. He pulled on the thigh and crotch guards and moved around, making sure it was all okay. Then on top, he pulled on an inconspicuous red shirt and jeans, with a bomber jacket from college. He went outside to see Jason was already dressed and checking a pair of old bluetooth comms. Seeing Tim approach, he held one out.

The earpiece was a chrome red and design on the cover was a black circle with a yellow bird inside. Tim smiled in wonder.

"That's my fucking comm. How'd you get it? I left it at the cave," he asked, pulling at it and rolled it between his fingers. There was the little dent from when it Tim had had thrown it away in anger. It wasn't a replica, like he suspected. Now, this visit was getting weirder... Jason and Bruce were not on speaking terms. Hell, last time they'd talked, as far as Tim remembered, they'd almost killed each other. There was no way Bruce let Jason in the cave. Unless, of course, Jason had broken in. Tim made a mental note to ask this to Jason later, not wanting to start anything right before going hunting. He gave the little red thing a small toss before putting it in. "Test." Jason's plain matte red comm lit up.

"Works," Jason said. "And Tim... keep it. It's a gift." Tim narrowed his eyes; he couldn't help it. Jason studiously ignored him, checking over their equipment. Once more... Jason had either broken into the cave or was on good terms with Bruce currently. Both options were ridiculous of course, but one of the two was impossible. Figure which. Tim sighed and dropped the topic again. _You'll get to ask it later,_ he told himself. He couldn't have things be strained when they were going to hunt a vampire, where their lives could potentially end up in the other's hand.

Tim did trust that Jason wouldn't kill him, but still... better to keep things not tense.

They waited to stake their suspect out, a good hour before the vamp actually showed. He sat down in a far booth, and surveyed the cafe. Tim only just managed to avoid his eye when the vampire's eyes swept over their general area.

"What's he doing?" Jason murmured in low voice. Even though they were far away, vampires did have enhanced abilities, hearing included.

"Scoping it out," Tim muttered, looking for any lonely, possible victims the vampire might decide to make his target. "We should've gone alone, one of us. As bait." Across from him, Jason stiffened. 

"I don't do baits," he stated. "I'm not Bruce." Tim opened his mouth but Jason cut him off. "Let's face it: you'd be bait. I don't look it. So it's out of question."

Jason didn't. He was a big guy, even bigger than Bruce after he'd had his... little growth spurt. Add that to the scars on his face and arms, he really didn't look like easy pickings for a monster not based in magic, like a vampire. Tim pursed his lips, but didn't get the chance to make any comments to Jason, as the vamp got up. Tim balled his fists.

"He's moving," Tim said. "He's... he's leaving? I mean, he _has_ fed pretty recently."

"Maybe he's just looking out, keeping appearances," Jason said tensely. "We better follow him."

They got up and got to the car, and followed the man from a safe distance. The vampire walked at a pace that would tire normal humans quickly enough, but he kept it. They followed him to an old mansion just a little outside of town. He disappeared behind the huge doors, while Jason parked the car outside. He turned to Tim gravely.

"I'll go in, call you if I need backup," he said. It was standard procedure from working with the family: when all of them hunted together, they usually sent someone ahead, and in most cases it gave a chance to flex their muscles so to speak, keep sharp. If anything went wrong, the rest of them would come in. They still avoided working in huge groups, and usually only two or three people would be assigned a case. In Tim's experience, there was only once that the full family had worked together... a vampire nest and a werewolf pack feud, with a demon involved, which was rare, usually. Everyone from Kate to Jason to Damian were there. Even Alfred ran interference that time, even though he'd completely removed himself from hunting except to patch Bruce's wounds. And everyone else's. It had been... well it had been good. Everything had been okay then, tensions were as low as they went, and it was one of the very few good memories Tim had from his hunting days.

In any case, he nodded at Jason and they both got out, arming themselves to the teeth. Tim stood leaning against the car and caught he keys Jason tossed at him as he headed in. "Comms on."

He saw Jason go around to the other side of the mansion, and Tim wondered if he should set a light patrol border around. Also standard procedure when it came to working in Gotham. Jason's comm was quiet for the most part, although Tim did catch the tittering of bats and let out a scoff. The mansion did look to be in disrepair, but a vampire's lair having bats was too much for him. Then he dimly remembered how all the hunters who knew Bruce or had heard of him called him the Bat because Bruce was the expert on killing vampires. It was really just because Gotham was full of them- aside from a small selection of other monsters, Gotham mainly had vampires. And Bruce had gotten rid of around half of them in around his first five years as a hunter. Then the monsters got smarter and Bruce got smarter and noticeably colder and noticeably harder on his stance on the supernatural. Tim sighed.

"Thinking a lot of sigh worthy things, are you Timmy?" Jason muttered. Tim had forgotten the comm was on.

"Just listening to the bats," he replied lightly. Bats basically translated to Bruce these days and that much of a reference would usually be enough to rile Jason up on a good day, but he just scoffed in return, humming tunelessly. Tim could hear his steps more clearly now and assumed he'd be going up the stairs. There were the usual creaks that came with an old house- they should know- but Tim still kept his ears sharp. 

For about another minute or two, it was quiet. Then there was a telltale hissing noise and sounds of struggle. Tim's hand immediately went to the machete at his side, muscles coiling in anticipation of a fight, but it was useless because he was outside. He continued to hear the strained groans from both Jason and the vampire till there was the sound of one clean slice.

"Vamp down?" he asked immediately. There was the sound of labored breathing on Jason's end.

"Yeah," Jason replied, somewhat stabilized. "Vamp down."

"You okay?" Tim asked once again, quickly. 

"Yeah, not a scratch," Jason said. "Still gonna clear all the rooms."

Tim frowned. "There was only one."

"Yeah, but... what if it's a nest?"

"Nest of what, three?" Tim asked with a snort.

"Yeah," Jason replied seriously. "I've seen some small ones in the past couple years."

"Okay," Tim said. "Only if you're sure."

Once again, the creaks of the house became audible as their conversation died, and Tim was left thinking about where Jason had been the past couple years... he knew he hung out with Roy Harper, but they didn't live together or anything. And he was completely untraceable. He knew Alfred usually did a wide search every year around two particular days: Jason's birthday and the day the lost him. But nothing turned up, not even on Bruce's thorough network. Babs refused to help search for him. She always said he'd come back when he was ready and they should leave him alone till then. And he did come back to them. Only it was fully on his terms and not Bruce's; something Alfred was perfectly fine with, but Bruce wasn't. With Bruce, everything was always on his terms. It was one of the many reasons Tim left.

In any way, more than a few fights had happened over Jason in the household over the years, even more so when he came back and refused to tell Bruce where he would go when not with the family. And then there was this one explosive fight Jason had with Bruce after which he left completely. It was only a few months before Tim moved out himself. Bruce had gotten very cold after that fight. 

Tim wondered if _his_ leaving had affected Bruce at all. He didn't know if he wanted the answer to that to be yes or no.

"Timmy," Jason hissed. 

"Yeah?" Tim whispered, snapped suddenly out of his reverie.

"Why are _you_ whispering? I think there's two more... they heard me, too," Jason said under his breath. Tim's heart started beating faster, probably because of adrenaline as he asked Jason if he needed to come in and Jason responded in the affirmative. 

"I'll take the front door," Tim said, half jogging, half running to the big doors.

"You'll announce yourself," Jason whispered. "Good, splits their attention."

Tim nodded. The door gave a loud creak as Tim pushed it open with his shoulder, gripping his crossbow so tight his knuckles turned white. This was his first monster in four years. The doors opened to a huge, open space, one door in front on him leading to what looked like a sitting room and a staircase to an upper floor starting right beside it. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling. The staircase led to a mezzanine which in turn led to two corridors facing each other. There were two other doors below the balcony which Tim guessed led to another sitting room, or a kitchen. 

He carefully, keeping an eye on all the windows and doors and the stairs, crept towards the sitting room. There were three windows and one exit out, but Tim wasn't going to follow it. He carefully took a turn about the room before going out and up the old staircase which creaked no matter how easily Tim stepped foot. He knew Jason had taken the right corridor: another one of Bruce's methods. This was so that when the second party entered the place, they knew the general direction the rest of their teammates had taken. Even then, Tim stood still for moment, looking for movements, or sounds before continuing on to the left corridor.

"On the first floor," he whispered to his comm. He'd forgot to notify Jason when he entered and grimaced. This would have earned him a lot of dirty looks and a post mission shouting from Bruce. "Taking the left."

"Roger that," Jason replied, low. Tim slowly creeped around the old rooms in the house, clearing them one by one when he heard the sharp hiss of vampire teeth right behind him. He ducked immediately to avoid the vampire which definitely would've sunk its teeth in if he hadn't. He shot the crossbow straight at the vampire's chest. It howled in pain, but Tim had apparently missed the heart because it lunged at him, fangs dripping. Tim swung out the machete chained to his hip and easily slid into the fighting stances he'd practiced a billion times, remembering with no effort. 

Tim managed to cut it in the shoulder and chest where his stake-arrow was still sitting, but the vampire kept jumping out of his range.

"C'mere- you- little- fucking- rat!" Tim half grit, half yelled, dropping and swinging his leg out to bring the sucker down- miraculously, it worked and Tim wasted no time in thrusting his blade right in the centre of its chest, pulling the blade out and decapitating it for good measure. Then he stood up, surveying the mess. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his ears and there were tremors running through his fingers. 

"Vamp down?" He heard Jason snap on the comm. 

"Yeah," he replied immediately. "Vamp down." He braced an arm on the opposite wall, closing his eyes before saying, "This is a nest. You getting any signs of movement?"

"No," Jason said tensely, pausing for a moment before almost yelling in the comms, "Tim, get out of there, the last one's probably on you-"

Tim was just straightening when the vampire grabbed his neck and got him in a chokehold. "Who's the little rat now?" it hissed in Tim's ear. Tim launched into a jump and flipped the vampire, ignoring Jason's yells of "I'm coming!"

The vampire hissed at him, eyes blood red and seething with anger, nails sharp as claws. Tim grimaced. The vampire barreled straight into him, tackling him to the floor. The machete slipped out of his grasp and reach. The vampire stood him up, back to it, and almost bit into him just as Jason appeared on the opposite end of the corridor, his crossbow aimed straight at the vampire's face. The vampire was still behind Tim, using him as a shield. Jason approached slowly.

"Where's Clara?" it asked Jason, desperately, almost tearfully. "What'd you do to her? We never did anything to you!" Tim's face contorted with confusion. Why was this vamp acting like it knew Jason? Jason, his weapon still up, answered calmly.

"Let the kid go and we'll talk."

"We're talking right now!" The vamp screeched. Jason locked his jaw and turned to Tim. He looked unusually calm, for a hunt.

"Paris," he said to Tim, who got it immediately. He swung his legs up, almost somersaulting over the vampire's head, crying out in pain as its nails sunk into the side of his neck. Its grasp loosened in a second, though, as Jason shot it squarely in the chest. Tim sat sprawled on the old wood, clutching at his bleeding neck as Jason rushed forward, pulling a clean, small, folded towel out and pressing it to Tim's neck. The pressure was so overwhelming he felt like Jason was going to choke him to death. 

"You're okay," Jason said, after a while. Tim suddenly remembered the vampire and jerked up to see a thick wooden arrow lodged in its chest. It looked dead. As dead as vampires got.

"I-," Tim choked, but couldn't get anything out. His hands were shaking and his teeth were clattering, and his heart was going to burst out of his ribcage. He turned to Jason, who was still putting pressure on Tim's wound. He grimaced and pulled Tim into a tight hug.

"It's a superficial scratch, no damage done," Jason said, patting Tim's head a little too hard. "Shhh, shhh, Little Wing."

Tim, by some miracle, found himself clutching onto the back of his brother's jacket. His... brother. He'd never _particularly_ thought about Jason that way, until now, suddenly. The hug, the nickname... Tim could feel Jason had stopped patting him and had gone stony. Suddenly, he remembered the one time when he was clearing old cave security footage... he'd stumbled on a video of Dick and Jason. A very, very old video of a very, very young Jason, from back when Dick and Jason called each other brothers, freely. A Jason who had stumbled into the cave, almost bled out. Dick had rushed straight to him, looking him over, hugging him and calling him Little Wing.

It was Dick's nickname for Jason. And Jason had accidentally called Tim by it. 

Tim leaned out of the embrace and Jason's hands dropped too, from his head and from his wound. Tim scrambled to press the blood soaked towel back to his neck. Jason stood up and cleared his throat. 

"I'm gonna take care of the bodies. Can you make it back to the car?" He said, not meeting Tim's eyes and already working on the vampire's corpse.

"Yeah," Tim said, getting up and picking his fallen weapons. "Yeah, but Jason?"

Jason turned to him. Tim put on the sternest gaze he could manage. "We're gonna have a long talk when we get back to my apartment."

Jason almost withered under the almost glare. Tim didn't think that worked if anyone except Alfred did it.

"Yeah," he said tiredly. "Yeah I owe you that much."

Tim watched contemplatively as his brother dragged the dead man out of the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos/comments/your thoughts! They always help to write faster.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Tim talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did say slow updates... hope you guys can forgive it. lockdown has me feeling unproductive. anyways, enjoy!

The ride back was quiet. Tim had helped Jason burn the bodies afterwards, when his adrenaline subsided a little. Jason didn't even protest when Tim asked to drive. He parked the car in his designated spot below the apartment.

"So," Tim said, hands still on the steering wheel. "The vampire seemed to know you."

"Let's go up first," Jason said, a little too quickly. "Let's get cleaned up, get that cut dressed. Then I'll tell you."

Tim pressed his lips in a thin line, once again deciding to let Jason take his time, not that he'd been any forthcoming, ever. Once they got up and Jason had dressed Tim's cut, they sat at the half furbished kitchen counter. Tim tossed Jason a bag of frozen peas from his fridge when he suddenly blurted out, "I'm not here because I needed help on a case."

Tim leaned against the counter facing Jason and tried his best expressionless face. "I figured. I'm not stupid, like you think." Jason winced as he pressed the peas to his shoulder. Tim couldn't tell if it was from the shoulder or the accusation.

"Didn't say that," he muttered before looking up straight at him with a kind of sad look in his eyes. "Bruce is missing."

Tim snorted. "Bruce is always missing, unless when he doesn't want to be."

"No," Jason replied. "Alfred hasn't known where he is for more than a couple weeks now. Demon Kid has destroyed half the house because he can't patrol." Tim had to take a second to process that. He suddenly felt cold despite the exercise they had, and wished he had something to wrap around himself, like a sweater or a blanket. 

"What... what do you mean?" he asked tensely. Jason gave a humorless smile and tossed the pea bag at Tim, who automatically raised it to his neck. 

"He's gone. Abracadabra. Whoosh. Vanished. No one knows where he is."

"Maybe he's on some mission," Tim said, again tensely.

"Tim, he left the Manor three months ago." Tim fell silent because he can't think of anything to say. It was surprising information. Bruce was always very particular about communication during hunting. Tim felt strangely disoriented by the news. Bruce was- or at least his mission was- one of the few big constants Tim had had in his life. He knew about things Bruce had done before they even met that had affected him directly. He knew Bruce would never stop fighting. But there was this tiny doubt they could never let go of in this line of work: you never know when it's your last day.

"And I... want to go looking for him," Jason finished before the pause could eat at Tim's mind too much. He opened his mouth to say something a few times, but nothing came out. He was still processing the whole Bruce thing, and here Jason was, saying he'd like to go look for him in Tim's kitchen after a monster hunt so that meant-

"You want me to go with you," Tim said, shaking his head disbelievingly. "No. No! I have a job interview tomorrow, for fuck's sake! I literally can't! I- and since when do you care about it anyways? Since when does anyone care about him, except Alfred and the brat?"

"Tim," Jason tried. "Come on, he's like our- come on he's family."

"Get your head out of it Jason," Tim sneered. "You can't even say 'father' and you're trying to tell me you want to go looking for him. I'm not going back. I'm not. You have no right."

Jason looked disappointed, but distant now, like he expected this out of Tim; it was an expression Tim had seen directed at him too many times in his life. He averted his gaze because he was sick of it, and sick of the tone Jason used. He glared out at the window till he was sure he wouldn't punch Jason in the face when he spoke.

"Why is it our problem anyway?" Tim asked after the long, heavy pause.

"I- I don't know," Jason frowned. "I guess I can't picture him dying without... I dunno giving me closure. That probably sounds stupid, especially from me, but that's how it is. All I've wanted is for the asshole to say sorry while meaning it and now there's a chance he's croaked without it happening."

Tim raised his eyebrow. "Closure. Closure? You were screaming at his face about how you didn't need or want him in your life last you saw him. You were about to kill each other, the two of you. And now you suddenly want closure from him?"

"No," Jason said, frowning. "No, last time we met, I actually went- well, he asked me- and helped him with... well not a case, more of a project. We cleared out a lot of Bowery together. We weren't always hunting at the same time, but yeah. I figured why not. There's kids on those streets, with the monsters, and-"

"You don't have to," Tim interrupted, then sighed. "You don't have to explain yourself. I know what it's like. He's... he's persuasive." Tim paused. "But that sounds like you've got closure, then." If the jealous undertone to that is as obvious as it feels to Tim, Jason still ignores it.

Jason snorted. "We barely interacted. Even when we were hunting at the same time, most of it wasn't at the same spot. And I wasn't gonna ask him to hunt with me."

Tim fell silent for a while. Much as he cared about Bruce, he was done with hunting. He was confused by this sudden decision thrust on him years after leaving it all behind. "I- I don't know what I'm supposed to do... I don't care. I mean, I do care about Bruce dying, but you know how it goes with hunting. I didn't want him in my life and I really don't want you taking this the wrong way, but. It doesn't make a difference in my life anymore. No one even cared enough to tell me. I shouldn't be expected to care back. This is confusing to me, I hope you understand that." 

Jason looked stung. " _I_ told you- I just told you! Tim that's so stupid, you little hypocrite, you say you want out from the life, then when no one bothers you, you say no one cared to tell you. When I show up and do tell you, you blow up at me. You're contradicting yourself at every fucking point in the road. What do you want? Or am I not family enough that me telling you feels like outside news?"

Tim glared back at him. "Oh, shut up already, you know what I mean. I swear you people get off on taking words out of implied context- I meant, did Alfred tell me, like he presumably told you? No. And it would've been fine if he didn't want to repeat painful shit to a full cast of people and knew we were on speaking terms- which we aren't and everyone knows- but that's just not true. He's the one that's supposed to tell everyone and he didn't call me. Tell me that wouldn't make you feel bad."

"I live like that all the time!" Jason shot back. "The entire time... Bruce just ignores me like the bastard child I am, the failure of the family. And by the way, while I did speak to Alfred, _I_ called _him_. Not the other way around. I heard the news from Duke. So congratulations, everything you just said applies to me too, because Alf didn't call me either. You're not special Timmy. The sooner you see it, the better."

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you too!"

"Repeating my shit, nice comeback."

"Don't forget who taught you to swear, bitch boy."

"Real- real mature. The 'I taught you this' card."

"I did teach you this. And a lot of other shit."

Tim glared at him as nastily as he could. "So go look for Bruce yourself, since you're so good!"

The silence that came after that felt deafening.

"I could go alone, but I don't want to," Jason admitted finally, voice smaller. "I hate being alone on the road- alone with no one to talk to. I don't want to do it alone." He looked almost pleading. Almost.

"Alright," Tim said. "Alright, but I never want to see your face again after this."

"Aww, you won't invite me to your wedding?" There was a hint of sneer of Jason's face but it was so half hearted, it might as well have not been there.

"Bold of you to assume I wanna- you know what? No. You're not invited," Tim said, trying to be cold at the end. It didn't work and suddenly, they were both laughing at something that probably wasn't even funny. The pause that followed was like a void. Tim wanted to say something, but couldn't figure what. Thankfully, Jason had that covered as he yawned and moved to the fridge to presumably get a beer.

"Bet you Alf told Golden Boy."

Tim snorted. "Alfred might not even have had to tell him. The brat probably ran to him crying and squealing the second he found out."

Jason almost spits out the beer trying not to laugh. "Oh God," he says clutching his stomach. "God the kid's in high school now- I can't. That's probably still true though."

"Yeah," Tim smiled at the visual of a grown up Damian having a tantrum. "You think Dick's in Gotham?"

Jason looked contemplative. "Nah," he said finally. "He's busy in Blud. Busy with his job and hunting and being married." There was an eye roll at the last part, but Tim smiled. Dick and Barbara's wedding had been one of the few times the entire family had come together without killing each other. Well, Jason and Bruce had had their big fight, but that had been afterwards, after Dick and Barbara left for their honeymoon. 

He still misses Barbara from time to time. She's the one who taught him coding as a child and he still hasn't had a better teacher, college professors with PhDs included.

"Anyone else in town? In Gotham?"

"Alfred mentioned something about Cass wanting to visit. Duke left for college couple months back, got into Metropolis. So he isn't there. Other than that, I don't know." Jason had made his way to his mattress, checking his phone. Already done with the conversation.

"Right," Tim said lightly. "I'm gonna get some sleep. I do have that interview."

Tim could almost hear Jason rolling his eyes as he replied, "They'll be tripping over their feet to have you, if I remember your high school grades correctly."

"People peak in high school."

"Not you, Timmy bird, if I know you. Get some sleep."

Tim decided to take his advice, for the first time in his life, and turned out Jason was right, because next day, Tim casually aced his interview. It was mostly because he had bigger things on his mind, like his dad (estranged) going missing and his brother (estranged) showing up to ask him to go with him on a cross country road trip to find said dad. Tim wished Steph were here so she could tell him what to do and he could do that and not choose. Steph used to say it was one of the reasons they would never work out as a couple. Tim sighed as he got into the elevator. 

Jason had found time to make a mess of his bed and was sitting in a cocoon of blankets, food and laptop.

"What the fuck?" Tim said, tossing his bag. "You're gonna clean this out before afternoon or I'm kicking you out."

"Chill, what crawled up your ass and died this morning. I can only imagine how the interview went." Jason didn't even look up.

"This isn't okay," Tim snarled. "This is my space!"

"We've shared bunkbeds as kids."

"Yeah we were thirteen and sixteen! Clean this up."

"I was going to anyways!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"And the interview went so good they basically already offered me the position!"

"Good for you, and I was right and I told you so."

"Fuck you."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Are you coming with or not? We need to leave soon if we wanna make any progress."

"Right."

"I did some digging while you were gone."

"Hopefully not in the communal garden. The other people living here would mind that."

"Tim, this is serious. I hacked into the cave," Jason said. Judging by the look on his face, he wasn't kidding."

Tim crossed his arms and leaned back against his desk. "So?"

"He was looking into a vampire case. A very old vampire case. It was his most recent."

"You say that like eradicating vampires off the earth isn't Bruce's life mission."

"It was- shit- it was the Dra- your parents. The vampire that... it was your parents case. He was chasing a lead when he left. He left for the lead."

Jason sat up and turned the laptop. The familiar interface of the cave computer was on his laptop, with a victim case file open. Jane Drake. Cause of death: blood loss. Tim felt like his head was spinning. He closed his eyes, not moving. 

"I... how long did you-?"

"Now! I didn't want to waste time sitting duck, waiting for you to decide! I was going to leave tonight. I wanted to get some background on what Bruce was thinking when he left."

Tim opened his eyes and Jason looked harrowed, dark circles under his eyes more pronounced. Tim hadn't thought about his parents for years. Tim had been alone that night, when the CPS came for him, to inform him that his parents had died. He was alone, and the nanny had left and Tim had been roaming around their mansion with a toy camera, taking pictures of anything that looked out of the ordinary in the night.

He remembered meeting Bruce for the first time. His face had less wrinkles then, less crow's feet. He had asked Tim if he wanted to hold his hand as they walked out and Tim had shook his head, thinking Bruce would hate him if he refused. Instead, he'd only smiled and said, "Okay, chum." And Tim had felt inadequately small in Bruce's passenger seat.

"I'll go," he told Jason after the long, long pause that stretched.

"What about your job?"

"I'll say I have family health issues."

"It's..."

Tim glared. "Do you want me to come or not?"

"Yes, okay, yes," Jason held his hands up in surrender. "Well, you better get packing then. We're leaving today night."

"Why are we leaving at night? And where are we going by the way?"

Jason looked thoughtful. "Well, we have to trace Bruce, but first I have a case I need to work on."

"Oh, no," Tim said, shaking his head. "Hell no, I said I would do one case- which I already did- and then I said I would help you find Bruce- because he had a lead on my dead parents, apparently. I can't let that go, but you're not roping me into solving cases with you. Don't even think of taking new ones while we're doing this."

Jason rolled his eyes. "I'm not dumb, Tim, I figured as much. You don't have to work on this with me. It's more of a loose end I need to tie up anyways, and it's near STAR City, so..."

"What do you mean 'loose end you need to tie up'? And why does STAR City make anything better for me?" Tim asked.

"It's none of your business, and you don't want it to be, as you've established, and since when do you hate west coast? Thought you loved it here," he said with a sneer. 

"I was born and raised in Boston till I was eighteen, you know. You can take the boy out of Gotham." Tim shrugged, then, "Oh, shut it," at the faux impressed looks Jason gave him. 

"That's not what I meant in anyway," Jason said. "I think you just don't know. Stephanie's in STAR. She moved a couple years back, I think? I usually have general info on people who leave Bruce's orphanage. So y'all can play catch up while I take care of business."

Tim hadn't caught anything past Stephanie. "Steph- Stephanie who?"

"Stephanie _Brown_?" Jason said, turning back to his laptop, bored. "Your BFF, joined at the hips, tried the kissy stuff you both were too gay for?"

"I know who- when did Steph move?! Why do you know and I don't? And who the fuck told you about the kiss- no one knew about that!" Tim was flushing with embarrassment.

"She moved after finishing college- two years before you did despite being the same age- and I know I because keep up with anyone who has beef with Bruce. As for the third thing, big brothers are omniscient. We just know. It's like how Dickie always knew it was me putting hair dye in his shampoo. Or on his pillow. Or in his shower cap," Jason paused. "Okay now I see why he saw all that coming."

"You were kinda stupid as a child," Tim agreed.

"Hey!"

"Okay, but STAR City is like four hours. Why do we need to leave tonight?" Tim asked, stretching. A few bones popped and Jason made a face.

"We need to make good time. I don't think we'll be there for long."

"I'll need more than one night to track down and catch up with Steph."

"You'll get that much. But we still need to make good time."

"Alright," Tim said. "But Jason, don't forget. This Bruce business is the last we'll see of each other- ever."

"I know." Jason's smile looked hollow, almost sad. "I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment with what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim and Jason go to STAR City, and Tim meets Steph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Batcest shippers dni. I'm extremely serious. Tim and Jason are brothers, who share a father, Bruce.

When they were on the road, the time went like a blur, listening to songs Tim had never even heard of before from an old battered pen-drive Jason kept. The silence was companionable, almost nostalgic. Reminded Tim of the brief time they'd spent as kids at Wayne Manor. Quiet stake outs. Bruce trying to keep his voice down as he yelled at him not to do something. Dick's proud slap on his shoulder when he had his first monster kill. Sneaking out to the kitchen at 3 a.m. for ice cream to find Jason had given in to Alfred and stayed the night and was raiding the pantry too. Tim dozed off and had strange dreams where he wandered around the huge manor with a toy camera on a gray afternoon and woke up with when his head hit the window and made ugly vibrations in his skull.

Jason wore a shit-eating grin in the driver's seat. "I was aiming for the pothole so you'd wake up. It was getting boring."

"Asshole," Tim mumbled, rubbing at his scalp. "You could've just woke me up by shaking me."

"Ah, where's the fun in that, Timbers. It's late anyways, wanna stop for dinner?"

It wasn't that late at all, but Tim's stomach was growling as if on cue, and they found a busy diner soon enough, with greasy burgers and fries.

"You know," Tim said through a mouthful, "you're gonna empty that ketchup bottle if you don't quit soon."

Jason shrugged, dipping- soaking would be a better word- four fries in it. "Wha'ever. Tastes good this way."

"All you can taste is the ketchup, probably."

"And that's bad... how?"

They bickered for a while and it was strangely a really mundane thing for them to argue about, Tim daring Jason to pour ketchup in his shake and Jason almost doing it. Tim had to physically stop Jason at the last moment from squeezing the bottle and they ended up laughing about it, clutching their stomachs. It only got worse when Jason couldn't breathe and got hiccups and had a coughing fit.

"Remember-," Tim had to stop for air, "Remember when we went for burgers and Bruce had his with a knife and fork?"

"He did it on purpose," Jason insisted. "He doesn't eat that way, we've seen it, me and Dickie and Cass. He used to take us on these road trips. "Hunts", but they weren't. He'd drop us off at Uncle Clark or Aunt Diana and go off on his own and we'd complain when he got back but he'd say it was a dead lead. Pissed us off. We were right brats back then too. Then he started taking Dick on hunts when he got older and Cassie and I would try to sneak into the trunk of the car." Jason stopped himself, as if remembering he was going into dangerous territory, but he still had a wistful smile on his face. Tim decided to push his luck.

"So what happened?" he asked. "Sounds... sounds like you were happy, all of you. I can't..."

Jason's smile faded a little and he looked at Tim searchingly, like trying to look for ulterior motives. But there weren't any. He sighed finally.

"There were legal issues with Cass's mom for a bit. She went to live with her for a while. She's a hunter too, her mom. A damn good one too. She just... ran with a different crowd. The kind Bruce didn't exactly mix well with," Jason's expression turned pointed for a moment, and like he was testing something, continued. "Witches. She worked with witches. Bruce doesn't exactly have a soft spot for them."

That would be a big understatement. Bruce hated witches. Less than vampires, but they were pretty up there.

"Then?" Tim pressed, leaning his elbows on the table. Jason sighed again.

"Nothing. Cass went away for a while... meantime, I was looking for my birth mom." Jason's face took on a hard shade. Tim didn't know exactly what went down with Jason's mother, but she was dead. Tim could almost feel the mood turning foul, the topic only inches away from Jason's return to Wayne Manor, his temper at Tim when he found Bruce had adopted him.

"Oh, well. That's nice, for Cass I mean. We used to email when I first left but we just stopped," Tim said, desperate for a topic change. Jason rolled his eyes.

"Relax, I'm not gonna blow up or anything," he said. "Anyways, I think we should find a motel or something, I'm too tired to drive. And so are you, don't even try to ask to drive."

Tim smiled because he _was_ about to ask to drive. "Well, okay- but motel? What's up with that? I mean we're near STAR, we can probably find a decent hotel."

Jason blinked. "I forget you're rich sometimes."

"I- well." It wasn't a lie. The trust fund his parents had left him was why he'd moved across coasts with relatively less problems. With Jason, it was different. He'd grown up in the worst of it, Crime Alley, mom hooked on to a Djinn. Addicted, asleep. The difference in the backgrounds made it awkward at best, angry at worst. If they were children, Jason would be sneering names and Tim would be insulting him right back, but now Tim just shrugged and Jason smiled wanly before getting the check.

"S'fine. You'll just get used to the cockroaches," he said, getting up.

"What? What cockroaches? Jason? Jason!" Tim had to grab the last of the fries in his hand to run after him. Still, convincing him of getting a hotel was way better than trying to knock each other out and tearing off Alfred's wallpaper in the process. So Tim decided to take the win.

-

The motel was seedy. Jason paid for their rooms and not for the first time, Tim wondered where he was getting his funds. It was probably credit card fraud, given his history. Impossible to trace, from Bruce and Barbara's training, and Jason wasn't even officially on any records. 

That night, for some reason, Tim couldn't sleep and went out to find Jason's door open and him leaning om the wall smoking.

"Those will kill you," Tim said. Jason held up the pack.

"Says right here too. And I can read. Surprising, I know, but I learned when my neighbor taught me because Dad didn't have enough money to put me in school." He watched Tim's now constipated face and puffed out a smoke ring, then grinned. "Relax, I was kidding. I went to elementary."

"You can't just joke about that." Tim sounded pained, because it _was_ painful- Jason was his brother, someone he'd looked up to, once upon a time.

"The only other option is to wallow about it." Jason shrugged. "Can't sleep?"

"Habit from college. And high school. And middle school. I'll be fine after coffee tomorrow," he said waving it off.

"You seeing Steph tomorrow?" Jason asked. Tim felt a sudden curl of anxiety in his stomach.

"Yeah," he said, half grimacing. "I hope- I don't know. It might be awkward. She might not want to see me."

"Kid, no. The only probable reason she didn't tell you was because she hunts and you'd made it pretty clear you wanted to be left alone," Jason said. "She's respecting your decision, not freezing you out."

"I mean, it was never extended to her, it was just for hunting related shit," Tim said, uncomfortable. "Moving cities is pretty big."

Jason looked like he was deciding something for a moment, then said, "She had a pretty serious falling out with Bruce, it was... we thought she, um, disappeared for a while. It wasn't pretty. And it was very, very hunting related, which might be why she didn't call." He was starting to look uncomfortable now too, like he didn't want to presume too much and Tim couldn't help but be surprised by the situation, Jason trying to alleviate his anxiety. Jason wasn't that type of person, and especially not with Tim, who he'd barely tolerated. He hadn't called him anything but "Replacement" for the longest time. 

"You've kinda changed," Tim told him. Jason snorted.

"No shit. So have you."

"I didn't expect it with you, though. It's funny because I used to think you were the coolest thing when I was a kid. I knew it was you and Bruce taking care of monster cases out there, you know. I thought you guys were heroes. But when you came back, you were such a dick. And now you're not as much of a dick but I don't care."

Jason smiled dryly. "A lesser man wouldn't have seen the compliment in that, Timbers. But you're right, I've changed, for the better. It's just... less stress for everyone around me."

Tim hopped and sat on the railing. "You gonna spill or what?"

"Spill about what."

"How you got round to not being so angry all the time."

Jason stared at the ground hard. "Long story."

"Long night."

"I'm going to sleep. I actually want to catch my eight hours, unlike you."

Tim glared. "You were already awake when I came out, dude."

"Yeah, I needed to cool off. Bad dreams. But I wanted to sleep. I still want to."

"If you didn't want to tell me, you could just have said you weren't comfortable sharing."

"Jesus, Tim. Fine, I'm not 'comfortable sharing'. I was literally just about to leave too. Unlike you, I've driven all day and want to sleep," Jason snapped, moving off into his room in a flash and slamming the door shut, leaving Tim alone with the sound of crickets.

-

The next day, Jason was gone and there's a note on Tim's table saying he'd be back by evening along with the car keys, saying he could take it into the city. (Tim was pretty sure Jason broke into his room, which was stupid. He could just have given Tim the keys last night and said this. But no one in his family was sane, and this sort of behavior was considered normal.) So he took the car into the city.

Finding Steph wasn't hard. Tim only had to hack the security cameras at her job and sure enough, there she was. Skipping back to her cubicle, all smiles and sass and her mane of curly blond hair. Another wave of nostalgia hit him, unexpectedly. She'd been his best friend for so many years, and now she was just someone he'd left behind and he hated himself for letting this happen to them, for leaving her back when she needed him. She was already halfway through her degree at Gotham University when Tim left.

When it was time for break, she crossed the street to the café there and Tim decided to make his entrance. He ordered a drink and went to her table, but she was reading something on her phone and Tim decided to put on a smile for old days' sake before clearing his throat and asking, "Hey, is this seat taken?"

She didn't look up. "Yeah, dude, I'm sitting here."

"It- Steph, it's me."

She looked up and her eyes widened into saucers and she did a double take and it was so funny that Tim burst out laughing.

"Tim?! What the fuck, oh what the fuck. Must be my lucky day? The sun come out in the west today? Of course the seat's not taken for you. You absolute dumbass!" Steph hadn't changed. Tim's laugh faded into a smile as he regarded her, the blinding grin on her face dissolved all the anxiety he'd been feeling. Why would he even think all that? This was _Steph_.

"So how have you been?" he asked.

"Don't 'how have you been' me, Mr Stanford degree!" she exclaimed. "Tell me what's up with you!"

"Nothing, just starting a new job. I live in Palo Alto," Tim replied.

"Stanford, Palo Alto, Silicon Valley. I knew bullying you for knowing coding would help you one day," Steph said, giving him an impressed look. "Look at you! My child all grown up."

"Ew," Tim made a face. "Don't call me your child. Second of all, it's you we should be talking about, Miss moved coasts without even calling."

Steph's cheerful veneer died and she slouched. "Tim, I. I didn't mean to. I wanted to call you, but it was bad."

"Jason told me- he said they thought you were-"

"Jason?" she said sharply.

"Long story, I promise I'll tell," Tim replied, leaning forward and taking her harm. "Steph, what happened."

"Sionis got me," she said, covering his hand with her other one.

"Steph, you understand you can't name-drop Gotham's monster mob leader to me like that without explaining right?" And maybe it was Tim's patented one-eyebrow quirk, but she sighed and told him everything that went down, and he listened, his hands tightening around hers as she regaled the story. 

"So Leslie is back in Gotham, and I'm out. It wasn't fair to her anyways, and I needed the space. Gotham is just- every corner's chock full of memories. And Cass left too, and then there was just nothing keeping me in Gotham." She paused. "I fly mom here sometimes. I haven't been back, though."

"Steph, stop hunting," Tim said, worried. "Please, listen to me, Jason said you were hunting, alone, and I'm worried, and I miss you, Steph. Please just don't go get yourself killed."

"I don't hunt, silly. Usually, at least. If someone needs help, I go help out, but not alone. Not since Gotham," Steph said with a smile. "So tell me about why you're in touch with Jason. Doesn't he want to kill you?"

And that sent Tim into his own story. Steph was a good listener as always, listening carefully, offering comments that felt necessary. When Tim was done, she sat back, looking thoughtful.

"Well... there's worse ways to make up than looking for your missing dad together," she said finally. "I'm glad you both are healing."

"Healing?!" Tim said. "I mean, that's sort of sugarcoating it."

"Honestly," Steph said. "There's a chick at my workplace whose sister tried to stab her with a knife. Then their mother died and they were thick as thieves. They went to group therapy with their dad. It worked out, and they're good now so... I don't see anything not happening."

"This trip isn't group therapy," Tim stated. "In fact, I made Jason swear we'd never see each other again after this." Steph shrugged. 

"If closure is what heals you..."

Tim sighed and stirred the last of his coffee, not really wanting to drink the lukewarm stuff. 

"Tim," Steph said. Tim looked up. "Just give it a try. Who knows, maybe you'll come out of this with an invite to Wayne Manor and better relationships with your family. If Jason wants to give family a try, why shouldn't you?"

Tim considered it. "Yeah, yeah okay." He had to do this anyways. "I just- promise me we'll keep in contact. I don't want us to turn into the sort of friends who only call once a year and don't know what to say."

"You're not getting rid of me now, you dummy," Steph said with a laugh that felt like it could fix anything. "C'mere, give me a hug."

Of course, because good things never last, she then remembered she was on break and not free for the day. 

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, stuffing her things in an honest-to-god purse. "We're gonna catch up later, capitalism calls. And Tim, try not to screw this up." And then she was gone with a kiss to Tim's cheek, already hurrying across the street to her office. Tim sighed and watched her for a moment before gulping the rest of his nasty coffee.

He didn't feel like leaving his sunlit seat in the café, for some reason, as if it was a childhood home. Just felt nice. Warm. He ordered a muffin and spent the better part of an hour picking it apart before reluctantly leaving. The waitress was giving him weird looks anyways. 

When he got back to the motel, all his stuff was packed and Jason was haphazardly trying to fit the chain on his bag. 

"Um?" Tim said, to make himself known. Jason looked up, alarmed. 

"We're leaving." he said. "Fix- pack- make this shit fit in. We're leaving."

"Don't take that tone with me!" Tim snapped. "I'm not a kid, explain what happened."

Jason looked almost livid for a moment, like he used to before throwing a fit at Bruce, then sighed and sat down on the bed. "It's not- I'm not trying to be rude, okay? Case gone bad. We really can't stick around."

"Alright," Tim said.

"Alright?"

"Yes, Jason, that's all you had to say to get my cooperation. Remove the laptop and tablets from that bag, there's a separate one for it."

Jason looked surprised for a minute before shaking it off. "Yeah, okay."

Tim was just brandishing the laptop bag from below the ratty couch chair when he felt an arm around his throat, quickly followed by a blade. Brown skin. Bangles. Jeweled dagger. Tim had an idea who this might be, and why Jason wanted to blow this joint. He'd gone immediately still, thanks to Bruce's training. Still, Talia al Ghul wasn't as much villainess as Tim had learned over the years, so he decided to take a chance.

"Jason," he called, as casually as he could. Jason looked up from the bed and closed his eyes in defeat. He looked scarily similar to what kids who get caught stealing snacks look like. 

"Habibi," Talia said to Jason, pressing the dagger closer to Tim's neck. "Let's talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, leave a comment if you liked it and my tumblr has the same @ if you want to talk there.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos and a comment if you liked


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